Investors Buy Large Volume of AT&T Call Options (NYSE:T)

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 237,072 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 219% compared to the average daily volume of 74,379 call options.

AT&T Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of T stock traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $27.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 25,030,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,440,534. AT&T has a 52-week low of $18.14 and a 52-week high of $29.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $27.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $198.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a PEG ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.42.

AT&T (NYSE:T - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). AT&T had a net margin of 9.64% and a return on equity of 13.63%. The firm had revenue of $30.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that AT&T will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AT&T Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.2775 dividend. This represents a $1.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. AT&T's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

T has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on AT&T from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AT&T from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised AT&T from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America began coverage on AT&T in a report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of AT&T in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.10.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in T. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the fourth quarter worth about $1,858,418,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AT&T during the first quarter worth about $1,072,128,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 96,779,385 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,203,667,000 after purchasing an additional 26,280,866 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of AT&T by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 53,432,827 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,216,665,000 after purchasing an additional 12,881,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in shares of AT&T by 30,527.5% during the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 11,959,440 shares of the technology company's stock worth $338,213,000 after purchasing an additional 11,920,392 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.10% of the company's stock.

AT&T Company Profile

AT&T, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of telecommunications and technology services. It operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. The Communications segment offers wireless, wireline telecom, and broadband services to businesses and consumers located in the US and businesses globally.